Fluid container cap lock



April 1,1941. 1 1 1. H. MINKOW ETIAL 2,237,192

' FLUID CONTAINER CAP LOCK Filed Nov. 17, 1938 25" nter-S Z M M I. 72' zaizz'ew z z Patented Apr. 1, 1941 UNITED STATES PA NT OF ICE Irving H. Minkow and Larry W. Kamewski,

South Bend, Ind. Application November 17, 1938,'Serial No. 241,038

' ,1 Claim. ICI. 292-2017) 7 invention rel-ates to fluid container cap locks, and has for the primary object the provision of'a device of this character which may be readily released by a remote control whenever it is desired to refill the container.

-' With this andother objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction,- combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of our inven- "tion, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in whi-ch Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating a closure cap constructed in accordance withour invention and showing the same adapted to a portion of a neck of a container.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the remote control for the closure cap.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral indicates a filling neck of a container or tank such as employed on a motor vehicle for the fuel for the engine of said vehicle. The neck 5 has the usual inwardly extending flange 6. To permit easy filling of the tank or container with fluid and to prevent unauthorized removal of the fluid or the waste thereof, the present invention is adapted to the neck 5 and consists of a sleeve I fitting over a portion of the neck 5 with a tight fit and has an internal flange 8 resting on the flange 6. Rings 9 are arranged in the sleeve, one of which engages under the flange 6 and the other upon the flange 8 and are detach-ably con-. nected by bolts III. The sleeve I has hinged thereto a cap I I, the hinge for the cap being indicated by the character I-2. When the cap is in a closed position and locked by a means which will be hereinafter described in detail it is impossible for the bolts II) to be removed in order that the sleeve I be freed from the neck 5.

A sealing disc I3 is mounted on the inner face of the cap I I and has a limited sliding movement relative to the cap. The sealing disc I3 is spring influenced away from the cap II by a coil spring I4 having engagement with the disc l3 and the cap II. When the cap is swung into a closed position the disc I3 engages with the sleeve 1 and thereby provides an efiective seal between the cap and the sleeve to prevent evaporation of the contents of the tank or container or the spilling of the contents therefrom. The spring I4 also acts to move the cap into a partly open position when the latter is released. 4

A latch member I5 is pivoted on the cap II, as shown at I6, and is located opposite to the hinge I 2 and is provided with a projection I! to engage with a keeper I8 formed on the sleeve I. The keeper I8 is formed by providing a notch I9 in the sleeve in which the extension I! may lie when in engagement with the keeper I8 and has a cam face. The notch l9 and keeper I8 are formed in an enlargement 20 provided on the sleeve 1. The enlargement 20 is provided with a chamber 2| opening outwardly through the lower edge thereof. The enlargement 2015 also provided with an; opening 22v which communicates with the chamber 2| and through which a hook-shaped One end of a cylinder '24 is mounted in the the opening 22 to permit the hook-shaped extension 23 to enter the cylinder. A plunger 26 is slidable in the cylinder 24 and is provided with akeeper portion 2'! to engage with .the hookshaped extension 23 of the latch element for securing the latch element in a position to lock the cap in a closed position. The plunger 26 is influenced in one direction by a spring 28 located in the chamber H and is cut away to provide a reduced neck-like portion and providing a substantially conical shaped strike face 2 I and a cup shaped portion 22' having a beveled strike face 23'.

The closed end of the cylinder has connected thereto a flexible pipe 29 which is in turn connected to a pump 30. The pump 30 is remotely located to the cap and the tank to which the cap is adapted. For instance, the pump 30 may be located within the body of an automobile in convenient reach of the driver so that on operation of the pump air will be displaced therefrom into the cylinder for actuating the plunger 26 into a position to release the latch element I5 and permit the cap to be opened. When the latch is returned to latching position it automatically engages with the keeper 2'! of the plunger and thereby brings about a positive locking of th cap in a closed position.

The pump 30 consists of a cylinder 3| suitably mounted in the motor vehicle and has removably mounted thereon an apertured cap 32. A piston 33 is operable in the cylinder 3I and. includes a foot engaging portion 34 which extends through the :apertured cap 32. The operator or driver of the motor vehicle can readily depress the piston 33 by engaging the foot with the portion 34 of the piston. The movement of the piston 33 under the influence of the operators foot expels air from the pump into the cylinder 24 causing a sliding movement of the plunger 26 against the action of the spring 28. This sliding movement of the plunger frees the latch element l5 so that the cap will be partly opened by the spring I4. As soon as the operators foot is removed from the piston 33, the spring 28 restores the plunger 26 to its initial position. The air in the cylinder 24 is displaced therefrom. by the movement of the plunger 26 under the influence of the spring 28 and forces the piston 33 in the cylinder 3| back to its normal position. When the plunger 26 is returned to normal position by the influence of the spring 28, said plunger is positioned to bring about locking of the latch element as soon as said latch latch member I5 is in unlocking position so that the latter may be easily snapped into locking position. The hook-shaped extension 23 rides the strike face 23' of the piston for moving the piston 26 upwardly when the latch member I5 moves into locking position. Also the strike face 2| acts to kick the latch member outwardly or toward releasing position on the actuation of the piston 26 by the pump 30. In operation, movement of the remote control pump 30 moves the piston upwardly to clear the hook-shaped extension 23 and the latter rides the strike face 2| which moves the latch member outwardly suiiicient to pry the extension I! off of the cam or past the dead center position so that it may ride on the fast releasing portion of the cam of the keeper l8, permitting the spring I! tending to urge the cover into partly open positionto fully release the latch member I5.

The sleeve 1 is provided with a vent opening While we have shown and described the plunger as being operated by pneumatic means, it is to be understood that through a. simple rearrangement of parts the plunger may be electricallyactuated.

It is believed that the foregoing description, when taken in connection with the drawing will fully set forth the construction and advantages of this invention'to those skilled in the art to which such a device relates, so that further detailed description will not be necessary.

What is claimed is:

Locking means for a closure cap member hinged to a sleeve on the neck of a tank, said means comprising a hollow boss on said sleeve forming a socket therein, a cylinder fixed atone endrin said socket to extend therefrom, said socket and cylinder having a pair of registering openings therein, a latch bar having a lateral keeper lug thereon and adapted to be hinged to said cap member for swinging movement in the closed position of said member in opposite directions to project said lug through said openings in said cylinder and to retract the same, re-

spectively, and a plunger in said cylinder operative in opposite directions and interlocking with said lug under movement thereof in one direction to prevent retraction of the lug and thereby latch said bar, said plunger under movement thereof in the opposite direction breaking the interlock and subsequently camming said lug out of said cylinder to unlatch said bar.

IRVING H. MINKOW. LARRY W. KANIEWSKI. 

